Wolves take down Forest Park with sweepThe Daily NewsCRYSTAL FALLS — Not too many visiting volleyball teams have enjoyed success at Forest Park in recent years.The Carney-Nadeau Wolves were fortunate enough to do that Thursday night, however, in a 25-19, 25-22, 25-8 conquestof the Trojans.“That was a nice win for us,” said Carney coach Steve Kedsch. “Overall, I thought we played pretty solid. We didn’t make a lot of mistakes. Defensively, they were tough. We had a lot of longvolleys tonight. To me this is a sign that this team is maturing. In the past, we’d have strings of unforced errors. This year we’ve been more consistent.” Carney’s Breanne Bedgood had a 15-point service run in the third set and Sarah Jackson hit seven points in a row in the second.“Sarah’s run was huge,” said Kedsch. “We were down by six points, then we got a side out and Sarah got her seven for a two point lead. That gave us a lot of momentum.Breanne’s run was also big for us.” Bedgood finished with five service\ aces, seven kills and eight digs. Jackson added four aces, seven kills and 12 digs. Talisha McCullough collected 18 assists and Layla Blahnik-Thoune had 10.Carney, which also won the jayvee match (25-8, 23-25, 15-8), visits Mid Peninsula Thursday.The summary:Carney-Nadeau — Bedgood (five aces, seven kills, eight digs); Jackson (four aces, seven kills, 12 digs); Harris (two aces, two kills, 10 digs); Sivula (five kills);Belec (three kills); Conca (two kills); McCullough (18assists, six digs); BlahnikThoune (10 assists, four digs)

Volleyball: North Dickinson sweeps TrojansFELCH — North Dickinson reeled off six straight points in the final set and downed Forest Park 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 26-24) in non-conference volleyball on Tuesday.“We looked slow and sluggish tonight,” said North Dickinson coach Sandy Haustein. “We weren’t really moving. We didn’t have the enthusiasm or the spitfire in us.”The Nordics (9-3-3) trailed 23-18 in the third set after a Mercedes Simmons’ block. They answered with Samantha Borvan delivering two aces while Lily Segerdahl and Kylie Gustafson each had two kills.A double-block from the Lady Trojans’ Elle Soderberg and Simmons knotted the set at 24. North Dickinson put it away with a Tori Christian kill and a FP net violation.“It was a roller coaster ride tonight,” said first-year Forest Park head coach Ana Cornelia. “We just didn’t get into a good rhythm. We had some good looks but ultimately missed out on a lot of opportunities at the net. I would have liked to have seen more ball control, but I’m happy with their efforts.”ND’s Juliann Wickman and FP’s Taylor Honkala put on a jump-serving exhibition in the first set. The Nordics rallied from a 23-22 deficit with a double-block from Gustafson and Segerdahl, a reverse kill from Wickman and tip kill from Gustafson.“They were smart,” Cornelia said. “They hit all of our holes wih those tips and had some big swings. They were switching it up and we weren’t reasdy to respond in the right way.”Three straight Wickman aces pushed ND to a 19-13 lead in the second set. But the Lady Trojans (3-5-6 record) closed to 24-22 after a Honkala kill and Soderberg block. Wickman ended the set with a spike.“Red (Wickman) had a good game,” Haustein said.The Nordics coach credited the Lady Trojans and added that her team needs to work on the basics.“Crystal Falls hung with us,” Haustein said. “They kept the ball in play where we didn’t.“But we have to go back to fundamentals on how to serve and hit.”The Nordics, according to Haustein, have to utilize All-Skyline Central Conference hitter Borvan.“We didn’t use her enough in the front row,” Haustein said. “Sami can hit. When you’ve got a hitter like that you have to use her.”On Thursday, Forest Park hosts Big Bay de Noc in a Skyline Central match while North Dickinson will play a non-conference match with North Central. When two Skyline Central teams meet twice in a season, only the second match will count in the standings.“We stayed positive and didn’t get down on anybody,” Haustein said. “They stayed together as a group and we were able to come back. That will help us in the long run.”Forest Park performance summary:Emme Emmers — 1 digDestiny Ferrara — 1 ace, 2 digsTaylor Honkala — 3 aces, 6 kills, 6 digsAvery Sommers — 2 aces, 2 digsHannah Cross — 2 aces, 6 kills, 9 digs, 2 solo blocKCassie Divine — 1 solo blockElle Soderberg — 1 kill, 2 assists, 2 digs, 2 solo blocks, 3 block assistsSydney Honkala — 1 ace, 2 kills, 17 assists, 3 digs, 1 solo blockMercedes Simmons — 2 kills, 1 solo block, 3 block assists

Lady Trojans fall to StephensonIron County ReporterCRYSTAL FALLS—In its only match last week, ForestPark’s volleyball team made a long road trip to Stephensonon Sept. 21 and must have left its good game behind.The Eagles flew high in defeating the Lady Trojans3-0, on scores of 25-16, 25-20, 25-22. Forest Park’s won-lostrecord is now 6-7-7.“We didn’t play to the best of our ability,” Forest Park coach Ana Cornelia said simply.Hannah Cross and Mercedes Simmons led play at thenet with seven kills each. Simmons had 10 solo blocks, andCross added four. Cross also had 15 digs and three aces.Emme Emmers had 23 digs, leading the Lady Trojans,while Taylor Honkala had 15 digs, four kills and seven setassists.Other stats: Destiny Ferrara, 6 digs; Sydney Honkala, 8 set assists; Ellie Soderberg, 3 set assists; Avery Sommers, 3 digs; Laina Toivonen, 5 digs;

Forest Park falls in fiveThe Daily NewsMUNISING — Forest Park and Munising fought to the very end before the host Mustangs prevailed in five sets in a Skyline Central Conference volleyball match.Munising improved to 16-5-4 overall and 6-1 in the SCC with a 25-19, 24-26, 27-25, 14-25, 19-17 victory.“That was, by far, the toughest and most intense match of the season,” MHS coach Ted Williams said. “They fought hard to the last point before we came out on top.”Kianne Wendt led the Mustangs’ offensive attack with 22 kills, while Daryn Johnson added 15 and Michaela Werner had 11. Emily Contreras paced Munising with 30 assists.“It was a battle all night long,” said Forest Park Coach Ana Cornelia. “During these high intensity sets, our girls remained composed even when things weren’t in our favor. We played smart and were able to take advantage of their openings on the court.”Cornelia said at times the Lady Trojans gave up crucial points when unable to control the ball on their side of the net.“Munising has a strong front row and defensively I thought we were keeping up with them,” Cornelia said.

Forest Park sweeps NorwayADAM NIEMI - Sports Editor - The Daily NewsNORWAY — Forest Park pulled off a quick 3-0 sweep against Norway on Thursday.The Lady Trojans (9-9-7) won by scores of 25-20, 25-13 and 25-22.The sweep didn’t sit well with Norway head coach Steve Andrews.“It’s probably one of the more frustrating nights ever. I know my girls are on a whole other level and they just didn’t show up tonight,” Andrews said. “We’re battling some sickness, I get it, but to watch the passing being crisp in the first game and dominating them until they got stuck in a serve-receive, to just falling apart mentally, that’s the frustrating part. These girls are way better than that, way better than that.”Forest Park made a night out of serving a tough ball where it was hard for Norway to get a handle on serve receives. The Lady Trojans were also strong at the net with blocks and kills. The team had a combined seven blocks and 28 kills. They were also helped on the serving with 15 aces, including five by Taylor Honkala.Norway had built an 18-10 lead when Forest Park went on a 15-2 rally for a 25-20 win in the first set. From there, Norway couldn’t regain the momentum.Forest Park jumped to a 10-3 lead in the second set en route to a 25-13 win.The Lady Trojans led by as much as 15-8 in the third set before Norway tried to extend the night with a win, battling to tie the set at 21-all. Forest Park carved a 23-22 lead and won the set 25-22.Forest Park coach Ana Cornelia said she started to get nervous when Norway battled back to tie in the third set.“After we already played 50 points and we tried to play for just 25 more, I did get a little bit nervous,” she said. “I said come on, we just need to pull through and just focus in right now, take care of business and we did.”Cornelia said sweeping Norway involves testing Norway’s defense in different ways, including keeping the front row off-guard.“You keep them off-balance at the net. You switch up your shots,” Cornelia said. “We have some strong hitters. They were switching it up, doing slide, doing quicks. They were just being smart and taking care of the ball.”Sydney Honkala led Forest Park with a team-high 23 assists. Taylor Honkala led the team with nine digs and five aces. Hannah Cross had a team-high seven kills.“I thought they had a good match and deserved the win,” Andrews said. “I’m just frustrated that things weren’t going our way and we stopped moving our feet and we stopped being mentally sound. Forest Park did a fantastic job moving the ball around. They serve tough. They went back on girls that were struggling.”Forest Park hosts Mid Peninsula on Tuesday. Norway hosts Escanaba on Saturday.Forest Park scoring summary:Hannah Cross — 4 aces, 7 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocksCassie Divine — 4 kills, 1 blockEmme Emmers — 1 ace, 5 digsSydney Honkala — 1 ace, 4 kills, 23 assists, 4 digsTaylor Honkala — 5 aces, 6 kills, 2 assists, 9 digsMercedes Simmons — 4 kills, 2 blocksElle Soderberg — 1 kill, 3 assists, 1 dig, 2 blocksAvery Sommers — 4 digsLaina Toivonen — 4 aces, 2 kills

Forest Park sweeps Rapid RiverThe Daily NewsRAPID RIVER — The Forest Park volleyball team came ready to play Thursday night as it swept Rapid River 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-15).The Rockets gave Forest Park a fight in the early going, but the Trojans (11-9-7, 6-3) came out of the first set victorious and were just too much for the Rockets through the final two sets.“I thought our team was aggressive at the net and we covered the floor well,” said Forest Park coach Ana Cornelia. “The Rockets have a really good front line also but ultimately we covered the floor and passed the ball up so we could take advantage.”The Rockets played well and were never counted out of any of the sets despite what some of the scores would indicate.“We had the best movement that we had all season,” said Rapid River coach Kristy Kerstner. “We had awesome coverage. Everybody moved well and went back to their defensive spots and they played well.”The first set was really close throughout with the Rockets taking a 24-23 lead and only needing a point to win. Forest Park would dig deep and score the last three points to take the first set 26-24.The Rockets won the first point of the third set but it was all Forest Park after that as it scored eight straight points to take a commanding lead. The Trojans kept up the momentum cruising to a 25-15 third set win.“At the beginning of games I always tell my team to start strong and end strong,” said Cornelia. “We really strive to keep that momentum throughout the whole match and they’re getting pretty good at that now. It’s a confidence booster for them and it keeps the momentum going for us to get that victory.”Forest Park travels to West Iron County on Tuesday.Forest Park performance summary:Forest Park — Cross (9 kills, 4 aces, 2 assists, 1 dig), Emmers (7 digs, 1 ace), Ferrara (3 digs, 1 ace), S. Honkala (3 kills, 21 assists, 6 digs), T. Honkala (10 kills, 8 digs, 2 aces), Simmons (3 kills, 3 digs), Soderberg (1 kill, 1 assist, 1 dig), Sommers (4 digs, 2 aces), Toivonen (4 kills, 1 ace, 1 dig)

IRON RIVER — West Iron County swept Forest Park in non-conferenceaction Tuesday. The Wykons, who lost in five sets tothe Lady Trojans in late September, posted set wins of 25-15, 25-22, 25-23.Wykons’ Rachael Tefft had seven kills and Victoria Maloney added five.West Iron County (14-11-7), which also swept Norway on Monday, hostsL’Anse today.Forest Park (11-10-7) faces North Dickinson tonight. The Lady Trojansare riding a four-match Skyline Central Conference winning streak.West Iron County also swept Forest Park in the JV match.

Skyline Central Conference names volleyball starsThe Daily NewsFELCH — Norway, North Dickinson and Forest Park players have been named to the All-Skyline Central Conference volleyball first team.League coaches selected North Dickinson senior Juliann Wickman and junior Sami Borvan, Norway junior Haley Clifford, and Forest Park senior Hannah Cross to the first team.Munising senior Kianne Wendt, named Skyline Central Player of the Year, led the first team that also included Sara Silva and Alanis Harris of Carney-Nadeau, Karlee Kuntze of Stephenson, Emma Rondeau of Superior Central and Emily Contreras of Munising.Harris also claimed the conference defensive specialist award.Steve Kedsch of Carnry-Nadeau was selected Coach of the Year.Taylor Honkala of Forest Park and Allie Sheski of Norway made the second team with Sara Jackson of Carney, Daryn Johnson of Munising, Mollie Lancour of Superior Central, Shelby LaCosse of Rapid River, Faith Jorasz of Bark River-Harris and Haley Trudell of Mid Peninsula.North Central’s Nikki Harter and Samantha DePotie received honorable mention with Jaclyn Bal of Norway.Individual sportsmanship honors went to Ada VanHolla of Norway and Maddie McPhee of Big Bay de Noc. Carney was the team sportsmanship recipient.Carney-Nadeau, 10-1, won the conference varsity title, followed by Stephenson and Munising 9-2, Forest Park and North Dickinson 8-3, Norway 7-4, Rapid River and Superior Central 5-6, Bark River-Harris 3-8, Mid Peninsula 2-9, North Central 1-10, and Big Bay de Noc 0-11.Carney-Nadeau, 11-0, captured the conference junior varsity championship. Forest Park, 7-4, shared fourth place. North Dickinson finished with a 2-9 record. Norway’s record was not available.

Lady Trojans sweep Wakefield-Marenisco for District 127 titleAdam Niemi - Sports Editor - The Daily NewsCRYSTAL FALLS — Forest Park swept Wakefield-Marenisco 3-0 to win the Class D District 127 title on Thursday.It’s the 18th straight year the Lady Trojans won a district title.The Lady Trojans grabbed momentum with a first set win and staged a dominant rally in the second set en route to the win. In the second set, Forest Park was down 6-2 to start before cutting the margin to 12-10. The Lady Trojans tied it at 13-all before scoring 12 unanswered points to win the set 25-13.Forest Park won the first set 25-13 that came on the strength of a late rally as well. The Lady Trojans led 7-4 and then 18-9.Forest Park moves on to the Regional 32 tournament to face either Carney-Nadeau or Stephenson. The Lady Trojans lost to both teams in the regular season.Both teams traded leads throughout the first half of each set before the Lady Trojans settled in to win longer volleys and cruise to a win in each set, which has come to define their season to this point.“Tonight I never felt like we were settled in. We gained some momentum when we got into the teens a little bit and then we took off,” Forest Park head coach Ana Cornelia said. “They had to work for every point — it was never just given to them. That’s the recurring story of the team. That’s what we were trying to focus on is starting stronger and ending stronger. Tonight that happened again — we started slow.”Wakefield-Marenisco coach Jessica Novascone said Forest Park’s height and offensive prowess was hard to replicate in practice in preparing her team for Thursday’s match.“I feel like overall we challenged them in some ways but I think that there was another level we couldn’t get to,” Novascone said. “Crystal Falls always plays a quick game. The teams we normally play throughout the season don’t have that kind of offense, so that’s what I was trying to prepare them for. It’s hard to simulate that without actually playing the team.”Forest Park was helped with eight aces throughout the night, including a team high of three by Hannah Cross. She also had six kills, six digs, two blocks and an assist.Taylor Honkala had 20 digs to lead the Lady Trojans. Emme Emmers had 13 digs. Sydney Honkala had 18 assists.Forest Park anticipated the play throughout the night and kept the Lady Cardinals’ defense off-balance.“They were just reading the ball very well,” Cornelia said. “We knew that their setter did like to do a setter dump a lot and did some things that were off-tempo that we’re not used to and I said they just have to control the ball on their side of the net, keep that tempo and that rhythm going and things will fall into place.”Cloe Bachand led the Lady Cardinals with four kills. Ebanie Delich had a team-high 13 digs.Wakefield-Marenisco recorded no aces and had just two blocks against the Lady Trojans.“We were definitely ready to play fast and build the momentum in the beginning, but we didn’t have the endurance. We don’t have the height either,” Novascone said. “Girls blocking at the net were just trying to find holes around that. Our team is so much smaller than them. Wish for a different outcome, but not too shabby.”Cornelia said she’s looking forward to facing either Carney-Nadeau or Stephenson in a rematch from their losses to both teams in the regular season.“Whoever we see I’m definitely looking forward to that rematch,” she said. “The Carney game definitely sticks out in my mind and I hope to see them again.”

Volleyball - Forest Park eye regionalsBy BURT ANGELI Sports Writer - The Daily NewsIRON MOUNTAIN — The West Iron County and Forest Park football teams are still going strong in the state playoffs. So are both volleyball teams. The Wykons and Trojans are both involved in volleyball regional semifinals Tuesday at different locations. Forest Park (16-10-7) and Skyline Central Conference champion CarneyNadeau will meet at 5 p.m. (Central time) in a Class D Region 32 match at Ishpeming Westwood High School. The other semifinal pits Munising and Lake Linden. “It feels great to keep the success and tradition of this program going,” said Coach Ana Cornelia after her Lady Trojans swept Wakefield-Marenisco for an 18th straight district championship. “It was awesome seeing the girls hard work and time spent in the gym be rewarded.” Carney defeated Forest Park in late August in their only regular-season meeting. The Wolves advanced to the regional by beating Stephenson 3-1 in the district finals. “I thought we played good defense and Stephenson played excellent defense,” said Carney coach Steve Kedsch. “They didn’t give us anything. I just thought it was good volleyball all around.” Sara Sivula, a unanimous All-Skyline Central Conference pick, led the Wolves with 21 kills, two blocks and 23 digs. “This was an intense match which is just what we needed going into the regional,” Sivula said. Munising swept Superior Central, Mid Peninsula and Rapid River to win the district. None of the Mustangs’ opponents scored more than 20 points in a set. Kianne Wendt, Skyline Central Conference Player of the Year, led Munising with 21 kills in the finals. Defense-minded Lake Linden beat Dollar Bay 3-0 for an eighth straight district championship. “They have an amazing defense,” Dollar Bay head coach Erin Gast said. “It is so hard to score against. There are basically three spots that you can score so when we hit our spots we did score, but when we missed there was no hope.” Regional semifinals are Thursday. The champion heads to Manistique for the quarterfinals.